


Star Crossed Lovers

by EndoratheWitch



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: Aliens, F/M, Planet Earth - Freeform, SETI - Freeform, Science Fiction, Spaceships, Starman inspired au, Will use some key scenes from the movie but mostly doing my own stuff, human/alien au, space, trying to go for a slow burn, visitor from another planet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2018-12-23 07:55:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11985525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndoratheWitch/pseuds/EndoratheWitch
Summary: Adventures in crash-landing on earth.





	1. Strange Occurrance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Damonicus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Damonicus/gifts).



Music played softly in the background, the singer's voice was warm, seductive, with just a little upward beat that spoke of the accent he had spoken with when he was alive. Marianne closed her eyes letting the sound wash over her. Bog King was her favorite singer. He had been her mother's favorite too, that was how Marianne knew about him, through her mother's love of his music. 

Marianne laid spread across her bed on her back, trying to let all her emotions slip away, but it wasn't easy. Her bedroom still looked a great deal like it had when she was in high school. The walls were painted a soft eggshell, the bedspread was a light blue color with light pink roses scattered over it, with pastel pink sheets and a half-dozen throw pillows in a rainbow of colors and textures. The curtains that she had pulled shut and were held closed with old wooden clothes pins were a deeper shade of rose. Her walls were lined with posters of Bog King, and book shelves that held her old fashioned stereo and dozens of paperback books. Her desk in the corner, and old beat-up desk that her father had found for her in an antique shop, was littered with more books, papers and dozens of ink pens. Usually her room gave her comfort, but not tonight 

The song that was playing was one about heartache, loss, the pain of a broken heart and the feeling that you were falling...that love was something just out of your reach. The words spoke to her. Bog King's music always had connected with her and now that her heart felt like it had been shattered into a million pieces, the song hurt even more. Marianne sniffled wiping her arm across her nose. She hadn't bothered to change when she arrived home. She was still in her favorite pair of jeans and a light purple sweater than hung off her shoulders. She had managed to kick off her shoes before she threw herself onto her bed, just barely. They lay on the floor at the foot of her bed. 

Why hadn't Roland loved her? She snarled to herself. Oh she knew what he had wanted...she wasn't stupid. She knew it! Why didn't she listen to herself!! But she knew why—because she hadn't wanted to admit to herself that Roland had only wanted to marry her for the fortune in land that her parents had left her when they died. But now that she lay alone in her bedroom, heartbroken, she knew he had only wanted her because of the land she owned. (Marianne, along with her sister Dawn, owned the largest tracts of land here in the mountains, prime territory for the building of a resort hotel or other expansions.) 

Marianne sighed angrily, rubbed her eyes and sighed as she lay on her back staring at her ceiling. The only reason she even owned the land was because her parents had been killed a few years ago...That thought brought on a fresh set of tears. She missed her Mom and Dad something terrible. They should have live a long, full life...but a drunk driver had taken all that way far too soon. 

Marianne lay against her pillows staring at her ceiling where one of Bog King's posters was plastered. It was an image of him holding the microphone, leaning into it like he was going to kiss a lover, singing his heart out. She wiped her eyes angrily. Maybe choosing his music to listen to had been a bad idea. She was already upset, but now listening to the heartachingly beautiful voice of a man long dead was only making the tears worse. She felt so alone. She had really thought Roland was the one, the man she was going to marry. Damn it, she wished she had listened to Dawn. Dawn was only sixteen to Marianne's twenty-two, but Marianne swore her little sister knew more about love than Marianne ever would. 

She could remember the look on her little sister's face, her little petite nose wrinkled in annoyance as she told Marianne. “You can do better than Roland.” 

Marianne had sighed. “But he is so good looking and charming...I mean, can you believe he wants marry me?” 

Dawn had frowned and shook her head. “Just be careful Marianne.” 

If she had only listened. 

Marianne sighed. She wished her sister was here right now, but Dawn was on a camping trip with her boyfriend Sunny and their friends. They would be gone for at least four days. The Oregon weather was supposed to be perfect this weekend, cool enough for campfires at night and just warm enough for hiking during the day. Marianne had already called Dawn in for school next week, not expecting them back at least until Tuesday, maybe not even until Thursday. 

Marianne sighed and wiped at her tears again as she mulled over what had happened tonight. She had driven into town to see Roland, thinking that it would be nice just to hang out with him and talk. He was supposed to be working at the diner, an unexpected shift which was why he had canceled their date. He owned the place, but one of his employees had called in sick and he simply didn't have anyone to cover...at least that was the story he had fed her. But when she had driven into town and headed into the diner, thinking to order some coffee and pie, maybe wait for him to get off work, Beth had informed Marianne that he was off that night. Now that Marianne thought back on it, the look on Beth's face should have told her everything. Marianne cursed herself again for being so blind. 

Not really Roland's story discrepancy any further thought, Marianne had decided to go by his house, sort of a surprise! She had stopped and bought some candles and ice cream at the big grocery store on her way. But when she pulled up into his driveway she saw a strange car parked there. 

Even then Marianne had thought that maybe Roland was just having a friend over, maybe Roger or Cory. She had heard that Cory had a new car...so she had walked up to the porch carrying her bags when she heard sounds through the open window. The sounds were pretty loud coming from inside, panting, grunting...even then Marianne had tried to convince herself what she was hearing wasn't what it sounded like...it was on the TV, it had to be... 

Usually Marianne would never have done such a thing as walk into a house uninvited, but something had told her she needed to...and that was when she found him, naked, fucking that bitch Stacy from The Woods Roadhouse on the couch in his living room...just like they had done once. Seeing him, his naked ass pumping up and down on that bitch Stacy...Marianne had felt so disgusted with herself that she had ever let that, that, PIG touch her. She had been so stupid. Instead of doing all the things she thought of now after the fact—like telling him off, some really great insults about his small penis or even had dumped the melting ice cream on him—instead she had burst into tears and ran from the house dropping her bag on the way. 

Which was why Marianne was now home, alone, crying her eyes out listening to the sounds of Bog King's sultry voice and crying even more because he was dead. All the good ones were dead. 

Marianne sniffed swallowing down her anguish. Her love-life was over, her favorite singer was dead (He died when she was in junior high but that was besides the point) both her parents were gone and everything, simply everything sucked! 

Marianne yanked the pillow from under her head and covered her face, screaming into the soft cloth with all her might, holding the pillow down on her face feeling the vast emptiness in the middle of her soul open like a chasm, sucking everything into it...if only all her emotions would go away...just fall into the abyss so she wouldn't have to feel anything ever again... 

Then, after a few seconds, she started to cry again. She cried into the pillow hard enough that her whole body hurt. She felt so empty, alone, and hopeless...she cried until she fell asleep, the soft sounds of Bog King's voice caressing her, easing her into a dreamless oblivion. 

* 

The night sky was perfectly clear with stars sprinkled throughout the dark expanse like glitter sprinkled on a vast cosmic cake. There were few planes in the sky at the moment, so that when the object hit the atmosphere and started to burn, anyone gazing up would having simply thought it was a shooting star at first. But as the fireball grew, it was clear that whatever was streaking across the heavens was much larger than any typical space rock. The ship ripped through the sky, streaking toward the ground at a speed of over many thousands of miles an hour—reduced from its nearly twenty-five thousand mile per hour atmospheric entry speed—tearing through the air so fast that the sonic boom that it left could be heard fo miles in its wake. The ship hit the ground with catastrophic effect, causing a crater a hundred yards in diameter, flattening and destroying the landscape for hundreds of feet beyond that around it, setting fire to the trees that were close enough to the impact to feel the burn from the hot metal. The impact sent tremors out, rippling over the landscape far enough that a geologist on the other side of the mountain range lifted his eyebrows in surprise at the readouts on his seismograph. 

* 

In a small rangers' camp roughly five miles from town, Brutus yawned. The big, burly man barely fit into his ranger uniform as he yawned again, stretching the material until the buttons threatened to pop free of the shirt. He had his sandwich lying across his stomach (one of the club sandwiches from Helen's sandwich shop on main street), his feet propped up against the desk next to the monitors. He reached over and picked up his beer taking a long drink (Brutus knew he wasn't supposed to be drinking on the job, but the last time anything happened in Summerfield it had been before his grandfather was born, so Brutus figured one beer wasn't going to hurt anything) when the monitors started to go crazy, the lights began to flash, the glow from the tiny bulbs flipping back and forth like a disco light. Brutus dropped his feet to the floor, his sandwich going with them and scattering under the desk. 

Brutus' heart started slamming inside his chest. A signal!! They had a signal. He grabbed his cellphone, immediately hitting speed dial. The caller picked up on the second ring. “Hey Brut, what's up?” 

Brutus' voice trembled with excitement. “Theo!! I mean Thang. (Thang was Theo's nickname from high school. Theo—who was Brutus boss and best pal—had been the skinny thing who believed in aliens...a weird kid that the bullies had nicknamed Thang...the name stuck even now that Theo was the National Parks manager here in Summerfield, a job that paid more and had more responsibility than any of the jobs the high school bullies now had.) I don't know what's going on, but the monitors are going off the chart!!” Brutus yelled into the tiny phone staring in wonderment as the monitors seemed to be losing their electronic minds. 

* 

In town Theo Fergmen sat up in bed. 

“What?” Theo rolled out of bed nearly knocking his wife Stephanie (or Stuff as everyone called her, a nickname from high school when she was the hot stuff on the football team, the Summerfield Squirrels' one and only female team member. She now coached the football team and was the math teacher at the local high school). 

Stuff muttered rubbing her eyes blearily. “Thang, damn it! What's going on?” 

Thang slammed his glasses on, his short brown hair sticking up in all directions. He then grabbed his jeans from the floor hopping around as he struggled to get his pants on while holding the phone to his ear at the same looking at his wife sitting up in bed.. “It's Brutus over at the SETI station! He is getting some crazy readings he said!” The Search for Extraterrestrial Life had been in existence for decades and had, besides officially sponsored personnel, a number of followers who took time to monitor for signs of life beyond the atmosphere of Earth, people like Thang, Brutus, and Stuff. 

“What?” Stephanie sat up, shaking off her initial annoyance at being awakened, and ran her hand through her short dark hair looking confused. 

“He said the monitors are going crazy! I have to get up there!” Thang searched around for his shoes grabbing a t-shirt out of the closet at the same time. 

Stephanie grinned. “You aren't going without me honey.” 

Thang turned around and stared at his wife, then smiled his heart swelling with love for her that she would want to come with him, that she had always supported him even in high school. She was the love of his life, his delight and she was just simply perfect. 

Thang grinned wide. “Come on sweetie—let's get up there.” 

That was when impact ripples washed out from the crash, sending Thang and his wife toppling to the floor. 

* 

Roland was cursing pacing the living room wearing only his jeans. Stacy sat on the couch naked holding her shirt to her breasts and glared at him. “Why are you so upset? I didn't think you cared about her!” 

Roland groaned. “I don't, but I want that land she owns, you stupid bitch!” 

Stacy stood up and threw her shoes at him. Roland just barely dodged the high heel in time. “Fuck Stacy, what was that for??!” 

“You know what it was for! It's 'cause you're an ass!!” Stacy stood up pulling on her skirt and shirt then grabbed her purse and stomped out of the house, leaving her shoes behind when the tremor hit. Roland heard Stacy scream and fall, but he didn't bother moving from where he had attached himself, scared silly, to the couch. 

* 

Silence followed the impact. The only sound was the burning of the trees around the small hole in the center of the crater. Inside the impact crater sat a “thing” that could only be described as a ship. The ship was a one person craft made from a strange silver-colored material. It was sleek, shaped like an arrow-head that flared back into a soft round form like the bottom of an egg. The top of the ship popped open, a hatch forming from the perfectly shiny, slick surface. The creature that rolled out of the ship landed on its back gasping for breath and clearly bleeding red. The life form was taller than any human, with sharp features that translated over its body in a series of scales that ended in long sharp points along its forearms and calves of his thin legs. The alien's head was layered in tiny scales that flowed back into a point, its mouth was full of fanged teeth and its hands and feet ended in talons. Its barrel chest was heaving and there were burns and and deep cuts along its scaled skin. If anyone had been there to see it, it could be described as masculine in its movements and its physique. 

The creatures rolled himself over, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees. He shuddered before placing a hand against the ship and pushing himself up to a standing position. He sucked in a breath, but it was difficult—the atmosphere burned through his lungs. He turned his head to look around. He knew if he were found looking as he did now, the humans would kill him. Again he thought to himself how foolish and rash he had been...his curiosity and his need to prove himself by studying the humans, now left him stranded on an alien planet alone. An alien hostile planet. He had studied enough about them that he knew he would look monstrous to them. He needed to find a life form that mirrored his own, something he could change into in order to survive...and soon. 

* 

Marianne awoke, the pillow still over her face. For a half-beat she thought maybe Dawn had come home, but then she realized that the house was silent. She frowned, confused for a moment wondering what had woken her up. She sensed that the lights had flickered and that the CD had skipped because Bog King's voice had jumped. Marianne lay there, yanking the pillow off her face and stared up at the poster of Bog King. Marianne sat up and looked around, a couple of things had fallen to the floor, some books and there was as shattered glass. As her head cleared she realized it was a tremor she had felt. Weird, she thought. Odd, but ultimately she found herself not really caring as much as she should. With any luck, a volcano would erupt under her ex-boyfriend. She sighed, grabbing the remote for the CD player and skipped ahead to Bog King's cover album before she rolled onto her side and reached over, turning the knob on her bedside lamp to turn it off. She grabbed the blanket at the end of her bed and pulled it up, put the pillow back over her head, curling in on herself without bothering to change into her pajamas. 

* 

Thang and Stuff drove up in the old pick-up truck that Thang used for work. They reached the SETI location in record time pulling up and parking in front of the log cabin. The tiny two room log cabin was not just the location of the SETI equipment, but was also the ranger station up here in the mountains. Thang and Brutus were the only two park rangers in charge of the national forest up here in the mountains. Everyone knew about Thang's obsession with aliens and when he brought all this equipment up to the rangers' station, no one cared...as long as he did his job, he could set up as much “alien detection” equipment he wanted. Besides, his superiors would need some significant motivation to bother visiting a location as remote as the rangers' station outside of Summerfield, Oregon. 

Thang was nearly vibrating with excitement when he shoved the door open, letting his wife enter first before he quickly followed. 

“Did you feel that tremor!!!” he yelled as soon as he rushed through the door. Brutus was crouched over by the equipment writing down notes. He looked over his shoulder. 

“Hey Stuff!” he greeted. “I did!! Though I would call that more than just a tremor! I wanted to head into the woods to see if we could find it, but I waited for you.” 

Thang grinned. “Thanks buddy.” 

Stuff smiled at her husband. “Go on, I'll stay here and monitor the readings, just make sure you take flashlights and a radio with a fresh battery.” 

Stuff grabbed his wife pressing her up against him and grinned, staring happily into her brown eyes. Though he was quite a bit shorter than his wife, he dipped her back and kissed her before he grinned and set her back on her feet. Stuff giggled, blushing like a school girl as Thang walked over to where Brutus was pulling out rifles from the supply cabinet along with a couple of heavy duty tactical flashlights. Brutus grinned. “Let's go see what hit!” 

Thang hooked his rifle strap over his shoulder and switched on his flashlight. “This is going to be history in the making! I just know it!” 

* 

In town, Sheriff Knight cursed. “What the fuck was that!” 

One of his deputies, a young man name Ernest Stell, frowned. “Well sir, it felt like a tremor.” 

“I know that you little weasel! Why are we feeling an earthquake?” Knight growled. 

Stell frowned. What they had felt was a single, if significant, tremor...not quite what he would call an earthquake. “Well sir there is a fault line about...” 

“Shut up Ernest! Get a hold of my son. I wanna know the boy is okay, then call that ranger station see if they know anything.” Knight pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “All that stupid fancy equipment up there maybe they got something on one of those radar things?” 

Stell wanted to tell the sheriff that he wasn't supposed to smoke in the police station, and that the equipment at the rangers' station didn't work the way he thought it did, but instead the monitors there were designed to pick up extraterrestrial life, not tremors. But the deputy picked up the phone and started to call Sheriff Knight's son Roland...the little jerk, Ernest thought to himself. 

* 

The creature stumbled and slammed against the side of the tree staining it with his blood. He had walked away from the burning trees and the remains of his ship, but his strength was quickly leaving him. He wouldn't last much longer. Breathing this alien atmosphere was becoming nearly impossible, he could see spots of darkness flooding his vision. He should never have come here. He was foolish and stupid. His mother had always said his curiosity would get the better of him one day. Clearly that day was today. He should never have followed that map... 

That was when he saw lights ahead of him. He frowned, studying the lights, but they remained steady, unmoving. He pushed away from the tree, leaving a trail of blood behind him making his way toward the unmoving lights. 

* 

Once he was close enough he could see that it was a dwelling of some sort, probably for humans. He frowned. He wasn't sure what to do, but he needed a humanoid to imprint on before he was found, so he did the only thing he could—he shoved the dwelling's door open and entered. 

Once inside, he frowned tilting his head listening. The sound of...singing...he remembered hearing it on the disc that he found...music. He closed his eyes letting the sounds, the singer's voice wash over him. 

He let the sounds, the words form in his mind connecting them with the words he had learned on his own. He smiled moving his mouth along with the words of the singer. 

* 

“See the curtains hangin' in the window, in the evenin' on a Friday night 

A little light a-shinin' through the window, lets me know everything is alright 

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind 

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind 

See the paper layin' in the sidewalk, a little music from the house next door 

So I walked on up to the doorstep, through the screen and across the floor 

* 

After a couple of more seconds of swift processing, he sang the words out loud, but in a whisper as he struggled to work out using his new voice. 

* 

“Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom 

July is dressed up and playing her tune 

And I come home from a hard day's work 

And you're waiting there, not a care in the world...” 

* 

He focused on it until he could replicate the voice perfectly. Now his new voice was a perfect replication of the man who was now singing. Despite the pain he was in, he found the singing and the voice felt good. He grinned, pleased with himself. Now to adjust his body so that this atmosphere wouldn't kill him. 

“Hello?” He said the word out loud experimenting with how it felt to simply speak instead of the singing. “Love, you, why, come back...will you come back...” He smiled pleased with himself enjoying the feel of the words on his tongue. He had studied the languages on the disc before coming here, but to say them out loud was a joy. 

Holding his side, he followed the sound of the singing male voice into another room. Once he was there he looked around and saw...pictures, yes that was what they were called, pictures. The images of this one man were everywhere! The alien's vivid blue eyes—so blue and vibrant that no human could match—scanned the images, each image of the same person from several angles. He frowned. Whoever this person was they must be very important to the humans that lived here he thought. 

His mind quickly scanned and processed the image, then his body began the transformation almost immediately. He dropped down to his knees with a gasp of pain. Transformations were never easy and they always hurt, but especially now with him being in as much physical pain as he was from the crash, and his short, yet dangerous journey through this oxygen rich atmosphere, the pain was excruciating. 

He tried to stop himself from crying out as white hot burning ripped through his wounded body. His form rippled, the scaled layers of him seemed to fold and shift, rolling up his spine leaving pinkish human skin in their wake. Parts of him were being absorbed and replaced. 

After a few horrible minutes, the pain eased some. He was still hurt, but not nearly as badly as when he had rolled out of the space ship; transforming naturally provided some healing. He could breathe easier and the burns were mostly gone. Now he only had a few cuts and nicks...injuries that would heal. Weakness, thirst and hunger were now his main issues. 

Slowly, he stood up and looked at himself. He was naked and fully human—at least under all but the most invasive scrutiny. He held his hands up studying the clawless fingers, long, flexible, but weak. Gently he reached up and touched his tongue, cheeks and chin, long, sharp...the soft skin felt strange. He gingerly reached up to touch the top of his hair where he now had...hair, yes he remembered the word. It was thick, soft, his fingers moved through the thick growth—it was not unpleasant. He was still very tall, but now of a height that humans would not find unrealistic. He moved forward, stumbling a little; walking was awkward as human legs were heavy and his feet—he looked down and wiggled his toes—were soft, defenseless though sensitive.

He could feel the coolness of the floor easily. He frowned studying his torso, poking himself with his fingers, stomach was muscled, his chest had just a smattering of hair, nipples also a little too sensitive, but his sexual organs looked too large and they were just...out. From a defensive point of view that was a terrible design fault he thought! He poked at himself and winced. Any creature could simply come along...one good hit and a human male would go down without much of a fight! He had thought that when he first saw the human designs on the disc...the females were a little better constructed than the males but...when on another planet, as the saying went, you did what the inhabitants did. Still, he would have to figure out how to protect his sexual organs...he didn't want to find out what would happen if he bumped them. He shrugged and continued to investigate the dwelling he was in. 

As he looked around the room, listening to the singer's voice filling the room, he didn't notice the figure in the bed covered with a pillow and blankets. He was too occupied with the interesting items that inhabited this room. Smiling to himself, his plight temporarily forgotten, he examined the room where he had found the numerous images of the human he now resembled. 

It was a small room, but there were many interesting items inside. He reached over and picked up a book, thumbing swiftly through it, his eyes moving at an unnatural speed. He picked up two more books, repeating the same gesture, reading each book in under ten minutes. He sat the last one down smiling. The song had changed. The sultry singer's voice now caressed the words of a sad song...he hummed a little, then as the chorus repeated he started to sing along with it completely unaware of the figure who had moved from the bed. 

“All by myself 

Don't want to be, all by myself anymore 

All by myself 

Don't want to live, all by myself anymore.... 

* 

Marianne's eyes flew open. She had fallen asleep, but now something else had woken her again. But this time she heard it, knew exactly what it was...someone was in her room!! She turned slowly to face the room shifting the pillow so she could look out., what she saw made her eyes widen in shock. His back was to her, but there was a tall, slim naked man in her room!! That was when Marianne realized what had woken her up. There was a tall, thin naked man, SINGING in her room! 

Marianne's heart was pumping hard as fear gripped her, then anger when she realized he was pawing her things!! 

Slowly she reached down beside her bed and slightly under it where she kept a baseball bat from her days playing baseball during the summers. She had really enjoyed the sport and missed it which was probably why she kept the bat, a reminder of good times. She grabbed the bat, wrapping her hand tightly around it, then eased herself out of bed. Whoever the freak was that had broken in her home didn't seem to hear her as she slowly tip-toed behind him, the bat held ready to swing. He was holding up her some of her photos which pissed off Marianne even more than she already was...how dare he touch her personal things! Marianne thought to herself, her knuckles white on the baseball bat, her grip becoming slippery as her hands sweated. 

When she was right behind him, Marianne hissed. “Who the fuck are you?” 

The man turned after jumping in surprise and Marianne screamed. 

Standing in front of her was her favorite singer, a man long dead... Bog King. 

Marianne screamed again and swung, the bat hitting him on the side of the head. Bog King went down like a sack of potatoes and Marianne kept screaming.


	2. Uninvited Guest

He was lost in a dream or maybe it was memories. He remembered his ship, the alarms going off, the heavy beat of his heart knowing he was going to crash, not sure if he would live through it, wishing he hadn’t left without apologizing to his mother for his harsh words. He had been so sure of himself, sure that going to that alien planet called Earth was a good idea. He was so stupid. Then there was the crash on an alien world, stumbling wounded and dying into the home of one of the Earth natives, changing...and the pain. He had been hurt before the change, but the change had been...painful. Then there was the music...the song; he loved singing, loved music. He had loved it on his own planet, but then, when he had heard the music of earth he had been drawn to it. The music had been wonderful. For a moment he let himself be taken over by the music, let it drift over him. He could still hear it. But then her face swam up into his sight, a human woman. 

Not just any human woman--she had been beautiful. More beautiful than anything he had seen in all the universe. Her eyes were similar in some ways to some of the galaxies he had seen in his travels, a brown with flecks of gold that caught whatever light was in the room. Her hair reminded him of the forest and grasslands of his home planet; thick, dark and lovely, a shade of brown so rare he had only seen it at home. He had wanted to touch her with his new fingers...his human hands...unlike him, his human body seemed weak and frail, but the human female, she had seemed so strong and powerful, like a supernova trapped in the delicate frame of a human woman, but then there had been pain. 

His eyes fluttered open as he suddenly remembered. She had hit him! 

He had a hard time focusing, human eyes were weak...no, he had to stop thinking of them like that. For now, he was human--on the outside at least--and he would stay that way until he was rescued...if he was rescued. But he was having a difficult time focusing his eyes. His head was spinning and he thought he tasted something strange in his mouth...oh yes, blood he realized. 

Once his eyes were fully open, he realized she was there, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. She was standing over him, and the power of her seemed to flow from her in waves. The next thing he realized was that he was tied up and that there was something large and soft over his sexual organs. He started to raise his head to see what it was, but the human woman made a sound between a whimper and a snarl. He laid his head back down, careful not to move, but to simply look up into her face. She was even more beautiful than his brief glimpse of her face had told him before she had hit him. 

* 

Marianne stood over Bog King with her baseball bat ready to smash his head in...could you smash in the head of a ghost?? She didn’t think so, and since she had hit him across the face and he had gone down, out cold, he couldn’t be a ghost. But why did he look so much like Bog King?? Her high school crush, the man with the golden voice...and a man who had died years ago?? 

Marianne was trembling; maybe this was all some weird dream or maybe in her grief over a failed romance she had conjured up the one guy who she had always had a thing for? The number one on her freebie list, the one man who could have really swept her off her feet--Bog King. 

Marianne reached out thinking to touch him to see if he was real or not when his eyes popped open. 

Oh shit! Marianne thought...those eyes were definitely Bog King’s!! They were so damn blue. He had started to raise his head and Marianne snarled and whimpered at the same time, raising her bat over her shoulder ready to smack him again. She was pretty sure she had tied him up good and tight with one of her belts around his wrists and another around his ankles. She had dropped a pillow over his privates because...damn...really...damn...that thing was...nice...NO...bad Marianne...that thing was distracting...yeah she had told herself as she dropped the pillow over his penis. 

“Who...who are you? Why do you look like Bog King?!” Marianne’s words had started low and whispery before they ended on a shout. 

The naked man that looked like Bog King jumped a bit. He blinked at her, then licked his lips--tongue worrying at a split in his lip from her attack, before he spoke. Oddly, he spoke with a slight Scottish accent, Marianne noted, just like the singer… 

“B-b-bog...Bog..Kk..Ke..King. Bog King.” He grinned pleased with himself. He then spoke to her, reciting from the golden disc he had found in space all those eons ago it seemed. 

“各位好嗎？祝各位平安健康快樂.” 

Marianne stared at him, her mouth hanging open. 

Bog (he decided to use this human name. He liked the sound of it and it was actually, somewhat close to his own name, but with some additional tones a human would find unpronounceable) decided to try again. “Здравствуйте! Приветствую Вас!” 

Marianne took a step backwards. “W-w….what?” 

He frowned and thought to himself. Oh, she was speaking English. He smiled at her and tried again. “As the secretary general of the United Nations, an organisation of over one hundred and forty-seven member states, which represent almost all the inhabitants of the planet Earth, I send greetings.” He smiled at her showing off the same crooked teeth that Bog King had. 

Marianne hit the wall behind her as she had walked slowly and steadily backwards away from the man, staring at him, then suddenly, she slid along the wall, slumped onto the floor as she passed out. Bog frowned staring at her and wondered if he had said it all wrong. 

* 

Brutus, with surprising agility and--as far as Thang was concerned--some excellent driving skills, maneuvered the four-wheel drive jeep through the woods and over a nonexistent hunting trail. They were following Thang’s instructions as he used his radiation detector to guide their small group, which consisted of Thang, his wife Stuff, and Brutus, to where the signal their SETI equipment had picked up indicated was the impact site. The radiation device wasn’t the best thing they had to follow the trace elements of radiation from what Thang hoped was something spectacular, but it was the best the underfunded, small operation of extraterrestrial finders in this small Oregon town had at their disposal. 

Thang yelped. “Turn right!” 

Brutus turned right barely missing a large pine tree in the process. Stuff, who was sitting in the back, yelped ,grabbing for the “Oh Shit” handle over her door and closed her eyes. 

Thang was still looking at his radar device as he hissed. “We’re close to the readings…” 

He didn’t finish as Brutus brought the jeep to a halt that nearly sent all of them flying through the windshield and slapped Thang on the shoulder. “Thang, shut up and look.” 

Thang looked up in confusion at his friend, who he noticed was staring out the windshield. He glanced in the backseat at his wife, but she was doing the same thing. Thang turned to look in the same direction when he saw it too. 

There, half buried in the ground, surrounded by burning trees and smoke was a ship, a silver egg-shaped ship. Thang sucked in a breath and whispered. “Oh my...fuck.” 

* 

Bog easily escaped the belts that the woman had used to bind him. He may be “human,” but he still retained most of the qualities that were unique to his species; strength being one, clearly still intact. Bog stood up, the pillow falling away, and walked over to the human woman. Her mouth was slightly open. She looked so fragile, so delicate. He crouched down, tilting his head to study her. She really was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her features were delicate, petite, but there was a strength around her mouth and eyes that told him she wasn’t one to be messed with...as did her attack on him, and that told him a great deal about her. Brave, a fighter. He smiled. He liked that. 

Bog reached out and touched her face, stroked his fingers along her jaw and cheek. She was just...exquisite, he thought again She seemed content to sleep right now, so he stood up and began to wander the house again, but not before taking the instrument she had bludgeoned him with and deposited it somewhere out of her immediate reach. The pictures of the man he now resembled were simply...everywhere. He wondered if this man was her mate? Bog frowned, but if he was, there were oddly no...causal representations of the man. On his world, one kept mementos of one’s loved ones, but these seemed more--religious--than a real relationship. He just wasn’t sure. Humans were such an interesting mystery. 

He took a breath. He needed to put his curiosity aside and send his call for help now that he wasn’t in any immediate danger. He only hoped he could actually send it. Transformation sapped one’s energy, which was why such actions were only performed in extreme cases, but he had to try to send his message or he would be stuck on this hostile planet. He assumed it was hostile just by the greeting the beautiful woman had given him. 

Bog moved quietly through the house, his bare feet making virtually no noise. As he walked, his steps, which had seemed awkward at first, became more fluid. He grinned happily, if crookedly; he was growing accustomed to this human body quickly. 

He walked out the first door he discovered that led outside and stopped on the small wooden porch. The scene before him was an unbroken mass of pine trees becoming shadows in the darkness. From here, he could see the smoke from his ship trailing upwards into the sky. That was good, he thought--the connect should still work. Bog looked up into the sky. Sending a transmission for help would not be easy, but he had to try. 

He closed his eyes letting his mind open. The process caused his eyes to glow beneath his eyelids, and the warm blue light spread over his skin as he was lifted him slightly off the ground, though he was completely unaware of what was happening to his body as he focused solely on transmitting his message. He was mentally connected to his ship by a process long perfected by his people. No one would be able to enter his ship or touch the controls because the ship was linked to him on an intimate level. He could control it with his mind if need be...though that was difficult even for the deepest connection. He would be sad to see the ship destroyed, but it was too damaged to leave the planet and he had a sneaking suspicion that he didn’t want anyone to find it. 

He sighed, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then established his link. He felt the ship respond weakly, opening the channels of communication. Bog’s blue eyes went wide and he stared at nothing as he sent his communication to be broadcast out into space and hopefully home. 

“Transmission: Observation Craft Destroyed. Environment Hostile. Complete Transformation. Request Rescue at Rendezvous Landing Area One. Tell My Mother I Am Sorry. End Transmission.” 

Bog wasn't sure how long it would take for the message to be received since, as far as he knew, no one may have realized he was missing yet. After that it would required at least another week to travel to this planet. He knew procedure for extraction would be that once the ship arrived they would only wait three days--after that, Bog would be on his own for who knew how long. 

Then, with a grimace of pain and regret, Bog set the ship to self destruct. It would be fast, the ship was laced with a chemical corrosive material that when activated would melt the ship. Hopefully it would have time to complete the process before anyone found it. Bog sighed again and turned to go back inside. Now he just had to figure out how to get to the landing area...in a dry and desolate area the natives called Arizona. 

* 

Marianne came to with a start. She yelped and sat up, her brown eyes wide only to find herself sitting on the floor. She groaned as she pushed herself up to her feet and wobbled a bit as she walked into the living room, thinking that was some crazy dream and that she would get herself some water...or wine...whichever she found first. “That was one weird dream,” she muttered out loud. “Naked Bog King in my house…” She giggled. “Though that was one nice dream penis I came up with.” She giggled again proud of herself for having such a detailed imagination...and acknowledged that she was clearly very horny when she stopped in her tracks; a light from the window facing out on her backyard drew her attention. 

There, hovering slightly near the window, was Bog King. He was aglow with a light blue luminescence that encircled his body. As Marianne stared, there seemed to be a high-pitched hum emanating from him, the sound transferring through the window. 

Marianne stumbled backwards the way she had come. “Not a dream! NOT A DREAM!” She yelped at herself turning and running back to her room. She grabbed her tennis shoes and a coat, snagged her car keys from the dresser top and raced to the front of the house where her little car, a 1978 puke green Gremlin sat. She was getting out of here! She didn’t know what was going on, but this...this couldn’t be real or good. 

* 

Thang and the others stumbled out of the jeep, their flashlight beams going every which way for a moment as the three of them hurried in front of the jeep’s headlights only to stop and stare at what they had found. A real life alien ship!! In Oregon!! Thang was both stunned and ready to shit himself with excitement!! All these years of ridicule, of being laughed at and told he was crazy were over!! He had a real fucking spaceship!! Right here!! Right in front of him!! 

Thang and the others just stood there for what seemed forever until Brutus said in a loud whisper. “Shouldn’t one of us be recording or taking pictures?” 

Thang gasped. “You’re right!” He dropped the Geiger counter and started to fumble for his cell phone when Stuff murmured in shock. “It’s...it’s melting.” 

Thang looked up and sure enough, the ship was quickly vanishing...MELTING right before their eyes. 

“NO!!” Thang yelled almost forgetting about finding his cellphone. He yanked it out of the back pocket of his jeans and started to snap pictures, but it was already too late. 

There wasn’t much left that could identify the ship as anything except a melting bunch of...nothing, and it kept continuing to melt, dissolving, fading into the ground. Thang started to run over to it. 

“Maybe we can get a sample?” Thang said as he took a step, but his wife grabbed his shoulder holding him back. “Thang honey, you have no idea where that thing has been or what was inside it. It could be dangerous. And I am not going to lose you because of some stupid alien.” 

Thang looked from his wife to the hot pools of quickly dissolving liquid with a sigh. “That was our evidence.” 

Brutus, who had wandered over to some of the trees, said with awe lacing his words. “Ah Thang buddy, I think we might have something else almost as good.” 

Thang and Stuff glanced at one another then hurried over to Brutus who stepped back from the tree he had been examining with his flashlight to show a dark, almost black, blood stain, the blood not the red of human, but a thick blackish liquid. 

Thang grinned. 

* 

Sheriff Knight arrived at the little cabin that served as the base for the rangers only to discover the place empty and the jeep that Brutus drove gone. He muttered, pushing open the door which had been left unlocked and walked inside. 

The place looked like the set of Star Trek with all the fucking equipment they let that dweeb Theo Fergmen keep up here. He never could understand any of this shit; just looked like a bunch of blinking lights to him. He frowned though as he walked further inside. 

The instruments and devices that Theo had were acting all sorts of weird. Didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that something was up. Sheriff Knight stood there for a moment watching the equipment going crazy before he walked out of the cabin to stand outside. That was when he noticed the trail of smoke in the air above the forest was close… 

* 

Marianne raced outside. Her bare feet had just hit the gravel of her driveway when she turned to see if the naked dream man Bog King was following her, but there was no one in sight. She let out a sigh and dropped her coat and shoes, grabbed one and slipped it on, but the laces of the other tennis shoe were too tight. She was struggling with the laces trying to free them enough to get her shoes on, hopping on one foot when she hit something solid. 

Marianne let out a startled scream. The naked man she had run into yelled as well, though he reached out and gently put a hand on her shoulder. 

Marianne then snarled, angry at herself for screaming and angry that this gorgeous naked man who looked like her crush had invaded her home. 

“Who the hell are you? What do you want?” She glared at him, her brown eyes flashing. 

Bog blinked, nearly stunned speechless by her beauty again. This close again, he noticed her scent. His human nose was not as strong as his own, but he was still alien inside and that DNA was allowing him to pick up the subtle hints of something pleasant on her skin. Her brown eyes flashed as her features conveyed strength, determination and annoyance. Her mouth was soft, like...like these purple plants on his home world...flowers humans would call them, the petals of which were soft. That was what her lips reminded him of...so...soft. She really was having quite the effect on him, so much so that his human body was reacting. Bog’s eyes widened in surprise and he looked down at himself and his body’s reaction to her; he frowned slightly confused. 

Marianne’s eyes widened as she noticed his reaction. She snarled and started to punch him, but his reflexes were lightning quick and he caught her fist before it connected with his face. 

“I need your help. I am stranded on your planet,” Bog said with the curls to his words. The Scottish accent seemed to be warring with a different one, like nothing Marianne had ever heard. 

“Planet? What...what are you talking about?” Marianne stared hard into those blue eyes...he was serious, she could see it. She swallowed. There were two options open to her: believe him, which...well, she thought. It wasn’t so far-fetched considering he was the spitting image of a dead man or, he was some sort of crazy wandering around the woods naked. Except he wasn’t dirty and there wasn’t a scratch on him; she had looked, a little too closely maybe when he had been unconscious, but there was nothing there, so scratches and no birthmarks or scars that...now that she thought about it...that weren’t visible on any of her pictures of Bog King. She shook her head. What was she doing?? 

“Okay big guy, where are you from then?” Marianne narrowed her eyes. 

Bog tilted his head at her. “I am from…” He stopped and frowned. “I don’t think you would know where it is...nor could you pronounce it.” 

Marianne frowned and tried again. “What’s your name?” 

“I like the name you chose, Bog King.” He smiled. It was a sweet, innocent, engaging smile that made her want to like him...jerk. 

“What’s your real name?” Marianne hissed the question. 

He frowned. “I...you couldn’t say it.” 

“Try me,” she snarled. 

He shrugged and then proceeded to produce a series of sounds that Marianne had no idea how she would even begin to pronounce or even sound out. He smiled at her, blinking his brilliant eyes at her. 

“Say I believe you…” she began. “What do you want?” Marianne asked with genuine, if wary, curiosity. 

He smiled. “I found your ship, the little one you sent out--it was named Voyager. I found it and studied it.” His almost boyish grin expanded as he started to sing moving his hips which was very distracting since he was naked. 

“Deep down Louisiana close to New Orleans, 

Way back up in the woods among the evergreens... 

There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood, 

Where lived a country boy name of Johnny B. Goode... 

He never ever learned to read or write so well, 

But he could play the guitar like ringing a bell.” 

Marianne put her hand on his chest trying to keep her eyes on his face. His voice was perfect, the voice of Bog King. “Okay, okay stop,” she said. 

His boyish smile was still there. “I love your music. It was my favorite part of the disc you sent.” 

“Voyager? Disc I sent? What are you talking about?” Marianne asked with clear confusion. 

Bog tilted his head. “Your people sent the Voyager out into space in your year, 1977. I found it.” He smiled again, his eyes dancing with pleasure. 

Marianne stared at him with a slight crazed smile on her face. “You found it, eh? 1977?” 

He nodded vigorously. “I did. My mother told me to leave it alone, but I couldn’t--it was just so fascinating!” 

“Hehe...you found it...in space…” Marianne put a hand to her head and wobbled. 

Bog eased her over to the hood of her car so she could lean against it as he continued. “I had to argue to come here. I said it was an invitation, but my people thought it was a trap. The scientists had sent crews here before years and years ago, all reporting that you were too primitive to trust...too primitive to have sent that ship. No one would listen to me. So, I decided to prove them wrong and come myself...but I crashed. The voyage here was longer than I expected...I miscalculated,” he admitted. “Additionally, you have so much junk orbiting your planet...I crashed and was forced to change my physical body to match your species so I could survive. Now I need to go to Arizona, one of a set of ancient landing strips in the hopes that my people will send rescue.” Bog smiled. “So, I need your help.” 

Marianne laughed, the sound just on the edge of hysterical. “You need my help, to get back into space...you...you don’t look like...well of course you don’t...hehe…” She shook her head and muttered. “I need a drink. Okay, let’s say all this is true. Why can’t you just...I don't know...zap yourself there. You were fucking floating a minute ago.” 

Bog frowned. “Because I don't’ have those kind of abilities. Do you?” 

She chuckled, feeling slightly light headed. “No. No I don’t.” 

He stared at her, his expression as cross between a sweet, innocent plea for help, a little boy lost look in his blue eyes, and something otherworldly. It was slightly spooky. 

She realized that she actually believed him! 

“Okay. I...I’m going to help you…” Marianne said and Bog’s smile brightened so much it was just this side of radiant she thought. His expression, the bright color of his eyes, that smile...and the body wasn’t anything to sneeze at either, she thought...all of him combined together to make her heart skip a few beats. She licked her lips nervously. “First though, you need some clothing, you cannot be running around looking like that.” 

Her eyes pointedly traveled down his naked torso...oh there it was again...that dream penis...oh, but it’s not a dream Marianne realized and her face turned bright red. Her eyes quickly shot back up to his face. “You are going to need some clothing. I just don’t know…” Her voice trailed off as she looked him up and down...oh there it is again she thought. Mr. Happy. She shook her head. “Okay Mr. Alien, follow me.” 

Bog frowned. “Can you call me Bog? I like that name.” 

“Fine--Bog,” Marianne said while her mind raced over what he had said and the fact that she actually believed him. 

Bog followed her back to her room and stood in the middle of the room. The music of Bog King was still playing while Marianne muttered and started to pull things out of her closet. Bog smiled as he watched her. She had her rear in the air as she got on her hands and knees looking for something on the floor of her closet. His genitals kept reacting to her which was really...odd he thought. Usually, in his normal form, they were hidden away, but with them being exposed like this it was...He frowned and blushed putting his hands in front of them. 

“HA!” Marianne yelled and crawled out of her closet with a t-shirt. “I knew Roland had left some clothes here.” She tossed the shirt at Bog who caught it. “That goes over your head through the one hole and the other two are for your arms.” 

Bog gave her a slightly sour look. “We have clothing on my planet.” 

She lifted a brow at him. “Well excuse me. You’re my first extraterrestrial.” 

She walked over to her chest of drawers and yanked them open looking for a pair of old sweatpants; they wouldn’t fit him well but they would cover up the naughty bits...which were way distracting, she thought as she found the pair of pink sweats and tossed them to him. “There--some pants. I know none of this is going to fit, but I’ll go into town in the morning and get you some clothes that you can wear...and...well I guess stuff for a road trip.” She shook her head slightly. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she muttered. 

Bog pulled the pants up. He looked ridiculous in the too-short pink sweat pants that at least fit him around his slim waist, and the t-shirt, which looked like his chest might bust through it at any moment. 

Marianne let out a breath as she looked him up and down. He stood still, his arms out letting her inspect him. He smiled at her and Marianne felt a weird little hitch in her chest. 

What on Earth had she just gotten herself into?


	3. The Sudu

A few minutes later Marianne had grabbed her laptop and took a seat on her bed while the thing with...No, she told herself, he wasn’t a thing...he...he was a man who looked like...no, scratch that too. He was an alien who looked like Bog King...the long dead Bog King...like, exactly like him. She looked up from her computer to look at Bog who stood in the middle of her room with a slightly lopsided smile on his face, watching her, his hands folded behind his back. She wondered for a moment if all of him was accurate, like...all of him...NO, no Marianne, get your mind out of the gutter!! Geez, she thought. Strange, dead man shows up and you’re wondering if his penis is accurately human. Marianne breathed deeply through her nostrils then let the breath out with a sigh. No, she couldn’t even think of him as an alien...he...well he looked like a man...so...Marianne shook her head, this was all so fucking weird. She began to return her focus to her computer, but he was still just standing there staring at her. He had adopted a “Spock” pose, and though she could appreciate that in movies and television, this was right in front of her--and distracting. 

“Why don’t you sit down?” Marianne motioned at the chair in the corner of her room currently covered by a collection of clean...dirty? Maybe sorta clean (because she couldn’t remember if she had washed her clothes this week or not) clothing. 

Bog turned in the direction she pointed, then back to her blinking those damn pretty eyes of his. She also noticed that he had damn pretty eyelashes too...thick, black, made his eyes stand out. Marianne shook her head and focused her attention back on her computer. 

Before Marianne could protest, Bog crawled onto the bed. His weight caused her old bed to creak in protest. Marianne’s head snapped up from her computer. “Wha…” 

Bog cross his long legs and sat down right next to her. Not just beside her, but so close that his shoulder was touching hers and when he crossed his legs, his knee bumped hers before he moved, just a little bit, which had his knee right up against hers. He smiled at her folding his long fingered hands together and sat with his back perfectly straight. 

“Hey!!” Marianne grabbed her laptop and moved away from him, which wasn’t very far considering her bed wasn’t that big, but it was just enough to give her a tiny gap between his knee and hers. The tall, slender man looked confused at her and maybe slightly hurt. 

(Bog was confused. She had told him to sit. Which he had. Was his proximity that unappealing? Had he done something wrong with the transformation? He supposed he should be used to those types of reactions. On his own planet he was not considered attractive...maybe he had hoped, just a little, that his ugliness wasn’t a universal constant...he sighed inwardly. Even to this alien species he was repugnant.) 

“You said to sit correct?” Bog frowned, still a little confused, but he shifted to the other side of the bed as far as he could without falling off. He didn’t want her to hate him. Not only was she his only hope of navigating this alien planet, but he hoped that maybe she would consider being his friend too, someone to talk to about his obsession with the planet, with earthlings...just someone to talk to in general. He didn’t have friends back home; he supposed that was a foolish wish to hope and find someone out here. 

He frowned faintly, but was distracted from his thoughts by her again, her mere presence was...distracting. 

This close she was very...he tilted his head slightly as he realized that she smelled pleasant, quite so. Her skin looked so soft. The urge to drag his fingers over her skin, to touch her again...was almost too strong to resist, but he was proud of himself when he didn’t reach out toward her. She was quite spirited and strong...she may have hurt him again if he had touched her without her permission. But he found himself wanting to touch her...she was like a flower, a rare and exotic bloom...he smiled just a little at that thought. He actually liked the fact that she would attack him if he touched her. 

“Yeah, over there!” Marianne pointed at the clothes covered chair. When he had sat close to her Marianne had realized he smelled distractingly good. She couldn’t put her finger on the scent, one part vanilla, something spicy like ginger maybe, and a scent she couldn’t place, but it was nice. Real nice. She wrinkled her nose annoyed at her stupid, sad libido. 

Bog frowned staring at the corner where she pointed, then said softly. “That does not look like a chair, it looks like a place you store your unwashed things.” 

Marianne frowned. “They’re clean...I think.” 

Bog shook his head. “They are not clean.” 

Marianne blushed, then glowered. “Fine, whatever, but you don’t have to sit so close.” 

Bog blinked with innocent confusion. “You told me to…” 

Marianne groaned. “Nevermind...can you read a map?” 

Bog frowned then nodded. “Yes I can or I would not have been able to find your planet.” 

Marianne stared at him for a moment thinking that an alien shouldn’t be so snarky already while at the same time she let his words process. She felt slightly sick to her stomach...her planet...of course. She reached over and pinched her upper arm. Nope, she was really awake. 

She sighed. “Okay, well, good--that means you can read a map.” 

Bog frowned at her, reached up with one hand and pinched his own arm. He wasn’t sure if this was some odd human custom or not, but the pinching did not seem to accomplish much for her, or for himself. And it was uncomfortable. 

She quickly typed in Oregon and the name of her town as the starting point… 

“Where in Arizona do you need to go?” she asked, her fingers hovering over the keys of her computer. 

Bog frowned for a moment. “I believe it is a place called Winslow. There should be a large crater there.” 

Marianne frowned, then asked in a hushed tone. “Is that where you guys like...crash landed centuries ago?” She blinked in surprise as a thought came to her. “Did you actually build the pyramids? I thought that was a bunch of shit, but now...?” 

Bog frowned at her. “It’s where a meteor hit your planet centuries ago...or at least that is what the data from one of our probes reported. I’ve read everything that we had on your planet, which wasn’t much. After the probe your people sent out…” Bog stopped himself. He knew he had a tendency to talk incessantly about the planet that humans called “Earth.” His fascination with the planet had always been seen as a bit odd, morphing into obsession after the discovery of the Voyager probe, which proved that the species native to this planet had achieved an awareness of the universe beyond just themselves. Bog swallowed before he continued to answer her question. “There is supposed to be a landing strip there for a probe that was sent to your planet ages ago. I’m hoping some of that data is still in our systems so that my people can find it...or know what I’m talking about…” Bog muttered. “So they can send rescue…” 

Marianne frowned gazing at the man. He looked a little sad, confused...lost. His dark hair was slightly mussed from pulling on the shirt; the dark locks falling across his brow made him look almost like a little boy. His blue eyes were filled with such sadness. She had the distinct impression that the look wasn’t just because he had crashed on an alien planet...as if maybe things for him back home weren’t all that great either. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be so far from home with no sure way back, looking for help you weren’t sure would come and to already feel lost among your own people...at least that was her guess judging by his expression. She started to reach out and place her hand on his knee; her hand hovered for a moment before she stopped herself. She was projecting onto him. She was the one who felt out of place on her own planet. How could she possibly know anything about how an alien would think? Stupid, she thought to herself as she set her hand back on her leg. 

Marianne decided to focus her attention back on the problem at hand: getting to Arizona. “Okay, here is where we are and this is where you said you want to go, right?” 

Marianne glanced at him as she pointed at the map on the screen. 

Bog leaned close to her and studied the map. This close she could again inhale the scent of his skin. Damn he smelled good. She glanced sideways at him, his profile. At Bog King’s profile. She felt that tingling warmth that she always felt when she looked at Bog King, but this time...he was right there! In the flesh. Well, nope Marianne reminded herself. Bog King was dead...this person was...something else. Who knew what was underneath that human-looking skin? She swallowed and focused back on what he was saying. 

Bog pointed at the screen. “This indicates it would take seventeen of your hours.” 

Marianne nodded. “Yes, but that’s not taking into account sleeping, eating, bathroom breaks. I suppose we could fly, but I don’t have that kind of money and you don’t have identification. I mean...driving is going to be expensive too, but not in the same way…” She muttered a little. “I have a credit card I could use…” 

Marianne glanced over at Bog to see he was looking at her with a slightly befuddled look. She blushed, god damn it the man was so freakin cute! That wrinkle between his brows, the curve of his lips… 

“You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?” Marianne asked. 

Bog stared at her for a few seconds, then sighed. Sighing to indicate frustration must be universal, she realized. “No I don’t.” 

Marianne turned her laptop back around. “Nevermind. So, do you have a time limit, like do you have to be there by a certain time?” 

Bog worried his bottom lip. “I estimate, depending on how long it will take before someone discovers my message...at least a week. That is if they received my message at the very time I sent it.” 

Marianne nodded again. Just the way he said that...if...Marianne smiled. “We’ll get you home.” 

Bog smiled at her, his voice soft. “Thank you…” He tilted his head at her. “I...what are you called?” 

Marianne blinked in confusion then realized she had never told him her name. “Marianne.” 

Bog smiled and said her name slowly. “Marianne. Marianne. I like it.” 

Marianne blushed. The way he said her name was like a caress. Heck he even rolled the “r” a little. Damn. 

She dropped her laptop onto the bed and stood up abruptly. “Well, ah...we should...we should...I should, I mean, pack a few things and...uh...call my sister…” She had started to walk to her closet to look for a duffel bag when she glanced over her shoulder at Bog, taking in the crazy outfit she had put him in. “We should really go buy you some clothes.” 

* 

Over the next few minutes, Marianne had grabbed herself a duffel bag (which after a few minutes of curse filled searching, had been under her bed) and had thrown together a couple of outfits, her toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner...and anything else she could think of for a road trip while muttering to herself. “What are you doing Marianne...what the hell are you doing?” 

Bog had stayed on the bed sitting cross-legged, watching her with a silently confused expression as she continued to mutter while throwing items into the bag she was carrying with her, moving from this room and into another room repeatedly until after a few minutes of this she finally stopped in the doorway of the room. 

“All right, let's go.” 

* 

Bog followed Marianne out to her vehicle, frowning yet again as she opened up the back and tossed her bag inside. 

“Okay we are going to go into town and hit Super Duper Center first. Thank goodness that thing was built last year,” she muttered. Marianne had never been more thankful than she was in that moment for the fact that they had a twenty four hour Super Duper Center. 

Marianne yanked her door open and climbed into the Gremlin. Bog didn’t move, studied the car with a crinkle in his nose. 

Marianne leaned over the seat and opened the passenger side door before she grabbed the few CD cases that laid across the seat, gathering them up and tossing them into the back. “Come on, get in!” 

Bog leaned down to look at her through the open door. There was clear doubt in his voice when he spoke. “Is this thing safe?” 

Marianne gave him a quizzical look while buckling her seat belt. “‘Course it is! I just had the oil changed and Dan said it would run great for another decade or two.” 

Bog made a sour face not understanding what oil change meant or who this Dan she spoke of was, but… 

“Is there no other way to travel? This looks small and easily crushed.” 

Marianne narrowed her eyes giving him a dirty look, her voice low. “Get in or you can walk to Arizona.” 

Bog frowned at her, but the expression on her face indicated she was serious. He ducked down, climbed into the car, folded himself into the tiny vehicle’s bucket seat, his knees practically in his face. Marianne motioned at the seat belt. “Buckle up.” 

Bog stared at her for a moment confused. 

Marianne sighed. “Don’t tell me they don’t have restraints on your ships?” 

“We do.” Bog stared at her. 

Marianne hooked her thumb under her own belt. “Then buckle up.” 

“These belts do not look as if they would save you from this tiny vehicle being crushed,” Bog observed while pulling out the seat belt. 

Marianne turned to glare at him. “Are you going to complain about everything?” 

Bog awkwardly turned and grabbed the belt, struggling to pull it forward holding the belt out as he frowned at her. “No. Just this really doesn’t seem…” 

Marianne reached over and pressed her fingers to his lips (which she noted were very soft.) “Shush.” 

Bog frowned, her finger pressed against his mouth. He started to speak, but Marianne pressed a little harder. “Shush.” 

He sighed. They stared at each other for a few seconds, both noting how lovely the eyes of the other were before Marianne slowly removed her finger, narrowing her eyes at him daring him to make another crack about the lack of safety of her car. 

Marianne watched as Bog struggled with the seatbelt; the thing stuck when he tried to pull it out enough to go around him, which led to him yanking on it a few times before it gave, followed by him trying to get the buckle into the slot. That combined with the outfit he was wearing, the comical expressions that passed over his face as he struggled with the belt and the ridiculousness of the situation had Marianne giggling. Bog’s eyes shot up giving her a slightly annoyed, yet adorable look. She grinned turning away so she would not break out into hysterical laughter. 

She turned the key in the ignition once she heard his belt click into place and began to back the car out trying to keep her giggles under control. But the moment the car began to move, Bog turned around trying to look desperately over his shoulder. He swung back the other way, trying to look over that shoulder, but the seat belt and his cramped situation prevented him from moving much. 

He kept turning back and forth the entire time she was backing up, which was hysterical. He looked both intrigued and panicked at the same time. 

Marianne backed out all the way down her driveway, looking both ways before she backed out onto the street. Bog had calmed a little, perhaps thinking that the car ran in reverse because when Marianne hit the gas and the little car lurched forward, Bog yelped, his hands slamming against the dash, pushing back at the same time that his eyes widened in horror. 

That was the moment she lost control. 

Marianne burst out laughing. 

Bog held on to the dash with one hand, his other having shot up to press against the roof, his bare feet pressed against the floor in a panic and his eyes were wide open. He had even sucked in his bottom lip. 

“You’re not going to go through the window. I promise.” Marianne giggled. 

“This vehicles doesn’t seem safe,” Bog repeated through clenched teeth. 

Marianne laughed. “Maybe this will help.” 

She reached over and turned on the old CD player she had installed in the old car. When she turned it on the sounds of Heart’s “Crazy on You” started to play. 

The instant the music started, Bog’s eyebrows lifted and he visibly relaxed. 

Marianne smiled. “You like that?” 

Bog turned and smiled at her. “Yes, I like this very much!” 

He relaxed, his grip on her dash eased until he rested his hand in his lap, the one above him came down from the roof until he was gently moving his head to the music, his eyes closed. 

Marianne settled back with a bright smile. 

* 

It was almost five in the morning as Marianne pulled into the Super Duper Center parking lot. The sun was coming up, illuminating the sky in a soft orange. The parking lot wasn’t busy at all, which was great she thought. They could get in and get out without bringing too much attention onto themselves. 

As she parked the car Marianne frowned looking down at Bog’s feet. No shoes...shoot...she looked back at the Super Duper Center wondering if she should leave him here, but then quickly dismissed the idea. She would need him to make sure the clothes fit...and shoes...and she didn’t want him sitting out here alone...who knew what trouble he could get into! No, she would have to risk it. Super Duper Center couldn’t say too much--everyone remembered that incident with Carol Rogers and the bikini. 

Marianne opened her door. “Come on.” 

Bog was staring out the window at the store. “What is it?” 

Marianne smiled. “Come on, I’ll show you.” 

* 

The greeter at the front of the store didn’t bother to look up from his phone as Bog and Marianne entered, only given a vague and tired. “Welcome to Super Duper Center.” Marianne hurried past the greeter, stopping only long enough to look around for the clothing sign, but her attention was drawn to Bog who was standing at the entrance with a look of complete shock on his face. She had to keep herself from giggling again, but Bog’s reaction to the store was both sweet and funny. He looked like a kid getting to go to Disneyland; his eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open as he stared in wonderment at all the wonders of a discount department store. 

Marianne started to walk with purpose to the men’s clothing area when she realized after a second or two that Bog wasn’t following her. 

She turned to find that he had stopped to stare at the colorful displays of cereal boxes on sale at the front of the store. He reached out and poked one of the boxes. 

Marianne turned and rushed back to grab his hand. 

“Come on.” She tugged on him. 

Bog stared at the box. “What is that? Is there a little person in that box with those...particles?” 

Marianne glanced at the cereal. “No, no, that’s just a mascot for the cereal.” 

“Cereal?” Bog asked letting Marianne drag him along. 

“Yeah, it’s ah...grains and stuff that you eat with some sugar coating or something” She kept walking though he had now stopped to stare at a large display with bags of chips and soda with pictures of families grilling food. Her hold on him wasn’t enough to compel him forward; when he stopped, Marianne found him impossible to move. 

“Do you eat the little man in the cereal?” Bog asked frowning at the bag of chips with a large cat wearing sunglasses emblazoned on the bag. Bog poked the bag and jumped back when the bag crinkled. 

Marianne giggled when Bog jumped. “No we don’t eat the little man. That’s a character. It isn’t even in the box just on the front. Helps sell the cereal to kids...well to me too.” She shrugged. 

Bog kept poking all the bags, jerking slightly at the sounds each bag made when he touched it. 

Marianne reached over and tugged on his hand. “Come on.” 

Bog started to move again though she only got him to walk a few steps before he stopped to touch a cage display of large rubber balls in bright colors. Bog reached through the cage to touch the balls, yanking his hand back out when they moved before he grinned and touched them again. 

Marianne stopped tugging on him and turned around in annoyance. 

“Bog, will you stop touching everything!” Marianne groaned. 

Bog turned to her, the expression on his face was both comical excitement and pure delight. “What is this?” 

“It’s a ball,” Marianne said, then sighed. “Here, let me show you.” 

She reached in and pulled one out, then bounced it on the floor. Bog made a sound that was half yelp of surprise and half giggle of delight. He turned and chased after the ball, (which had Marianne giggling and smiling despite her irritation a moment earlier. He looked so ridiculous in the getup she had him dressed in, barefoot running after a ball.) He picked the ball up carefully before he bounced the ball on the floor back to Marianne. She caught it with a smile, bouncing it back to him. Bog laughed, catching the ball and bouncing it back to her again. 

Marianne sighed, but she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. He looked so genuinely happy and thrilled by a simple colorful bouncing ball. 

“Would you like me to buy you the ball?” Marianne asked when she bounced it to him again. 

Bog’s face lit up more, if that were possible she thought, the smile spreading across his face, his eyes dancing with delight. “Really? I can have it?” 

Marianne grinned. “Yeah, you can have it. Come on though--we need to get you some clothes.” 

* 

They finally made their way to the clothing section, Bog holding his ball against his chest like a kid. Marianne chewed on her bottom lip looking around when a monotone voice from the racks spoke up, made both of them jump. 

“Can I help you?” 

Bog and Marianne both turned to see an short, older woman with a pixie cut of white hair and small, horn rimmed glasses wearing the bright blue store apron. The older woman looked Bog up and down with curiosity in her eyes. 

In the same monotone voice, the woman said. “Let me guess, you need clothing for your friend here.” 

Marianne looked a little sheepish as she murmured. “Ah...yes.” 

The woman walked slowly past them. “Jeans or slacks?” 

Marianne glanced at Bog who was holding his ball as if it would protect him from the strange new person. “Ah, jeans.” 

“This way.” The woman walked slowly, disappearing into the ranks of clothing. 

Bog and Marianne shared a look before Marianne shrugged and motioned Bog to follow. He didn’t look convinced, but followed Marianne into the clothing hugging his ball tightly. 

* 

The woman had come to a stop in front of a jeans rack. She moved the pants around until she pulled out a pair and handed them to Marianne. “Here--these will fit him.” 

Marianne held the jeans up then looked at the lady. “Can he, ah...wear them out if I have the tags?” 

The woman stared at her over the rim of her glasses for what seemed like eternity before she answered. 

“Yes.” She reached into the ranks and pulled out another pair. “Here, you’ll need at least two.” 

Marianne took the jeans without a word. The woman then toddered off without a look behind her, expecting them to simply follow. 

The sales clerk stopped at a rack of plain colored t-shirts. She looked at Bog, studied him over the rim of her glasses. Bog squeezed his ball tighter and took a side step to stand closer to Marianne. The two of them watched the woman with a mix of fascination and a little fear. The woman fingered through the shirts until she pulled out four, two different shades of blue, a black one and a grey. 

“Here,” she said in the same monotone handing the shirts to Marianne. 

The woman turned to stare at Bog. Bog’s ball squealed faintly in protest as he held it tightly. The woman frowned then muttered in the same tone. “You’ll need underwear and socks.” 

She then shuffled off without another word. 

Marianne and Bog shared a frown and followed. 

The sales clerk (who Marianne realized wasn’t wearing a name tag and who she didn’t recognize as anyone in town) handed Marianne a package of men’s underwear and another of socks. She then walked away, leading them to the changing rooms. 

The old woman fiddled behind the desk that was set up in front of the four dressing room before she handed a key to Marianne and said in the same monotone. 

“You might want to go in with him.” 

Marianne took the key frowning as she turned to look back at Bog. She sighed, it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen everything already. “Fine, come on.” 

* 

The dressing room was small, just barely big enough to fit the both of them with a weak orange light and a tiny little bench that maybe a child could have sat on. 

“Okay, you need to put the ball down and take everything off,” Marianne muttered as she hung up the clothing on a little hook in the wall and started to tear open the plastic around the underwear and socks. 

Bog frowned but nodded, setting the ball carefully down (making sure it didn’t roll off) on the very small bench provided in the dressing room and immediately started to strip. 

Marianne pressed herself against the wall doing her best not to look as she pulled a pair of underwear from the package, but damn it all...he was right there! As he pulled his shirt off, she got an even closer look at his chest, his stomach...oh, his stomach she thought, her body responding with a tight heat...and then he bumped her with his hip. Marianne bit back a yelp of surprise. 

Then he shoved the sweats down and...Marianne looked straight up at the ceiling. Why was she acting so weird she wondered...she had already seen everything…She was an adult, for crying out loud! 

Marianne groaned. She looked back down. Bog was standing next to her naked, waiting, rubbing the back of his neck as he waited for her to tell him what to do. Her eyes immediately went straight down below his waist… 

Marianne fumbled, nearly dropping the underwear. “Here--put this on.” She looked him in the eye, kept her eyes tilted up. 

Bog took the white underwear and stared at it with a slightly confused frown. 

Marianne motioned. “Like the pants.” 

“Oh.” Bog started to step into the underwear when Marianne realized he was putting them on backwards. “No no...turn it…” 

Bog frowned looking up at her and trying to turn the underwear while at the same time stepping into and out of them. 

Marianne motioned with her finger. “No no the flap goes in the front…” 

Bog frowned. “That seems...why is there an opening?” he asked while at the same time trying to step into them again. 

Bog stumbled, bumping into her. Marianne yelped and pushed him back up. The tight space was making it difficult to move. 

Bog twisted around. 

Shit! Marianne thought as suddenly his ass was facing her....she stared, caught herself and tried to turn away, Bog bumped into her with said ass which caused Marianne to yelp again, and reach out grabbing his hips. Bog jumped forward at her sudden touch, smacking his head against the wall, but at least he got the underwear turned around and yanked up his long legs. 

He turned around. “Is this correct?” he asked with genuine worry while rubbing his forehead. 

Marianne let out a sigh of relief. “Yeah...yeah that’s correct.” 

Next she handed Bog the dark blue t-shirt. He pulled that on with little effort. Next were the socks, again, with little effort he was able to get them on over his feet, but last, came the jeans. 

Bog had little trouble slipping the jeans on, but once he had them pulled up his long legs, he looked slightly befuddled by the zipper and the button. 

Marianne swallowed and mimicked what he should do. “Just pulled them up…” 

Bog pulled the jeans themselves up then winced. “That’s uncomfortable.” 

Marianne shook her head. “That’s not what...oh hell.” She reached forward and took hold of his jeans. “You slide this metal flap up and it zips the pants together.” Her voice had dropped to a whisper. 

Bog watched her with interest. 

This close to him Marianne could not only catch how good he smelled, but the heat of his body, his breathing, the sexy way the jeans settled on his hips, the button undone...the white of his underwear pressed against his skin...that little line of hair a couple of inches under his belly button that disappeared under the band of his underwear... the back of her fingers brushed over the exposed line of skin along his stomach between his shirt and his underwear when she took hold of the jeans. The way his skin goosebumped and reacted to her touch. 

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. “Ah...you take the button here…” she tugged on the button. “And...ah slide it through this hole to fasten them.” She buttoned his jeans, holding onto the fabric for a second too long before she snapped herself back from her lust addled mind and took a step back, bumping into the wall. 

“Ah, don't you guys have buttons and zippers? Geez...you have freakin’ spaceships…” Marianne muttered with annoyance. 

Bog smiled down at the jeans touching the button and zipper. “Yes and no...I’ve heard of them. Supposedly in our past we have something similar, but our clothing is not so…” He had started to say primitive, but that was wrong and insulting. “Our clothing just works differently.” He smiled at her, then said softly. “Thank you.” 

Marianne waved her hand at him in dismissal. “It’s fine. Let’s go get you some shoes.” 

When the two of them exited the dressing room, the sale clerk had disappeared. Marianne frowned looking around and feeling a little spooked as she set the key on the desk and hurried off, Bog, now dressed, followed behind her, his ball held against his chest. 

* 

In the shoe aisle, Marianne had Bog sitting on one of the little stools that the store provided for people to use while trying on shoes. She had several pairs of sneakers, a pair of boots and a pair of cowboy boots unboxed and sitting in the aisle. Bog’s feet were long and narrow and she was having a difficult time finding a pair that fit him. She was on her knees in the aisle while Bog held his ball watching her, attempting to slide a pair of cowboy boots on him when she heard a voice speaking loudly in the aisle that caused her to freeze in place. 

“Stacy I don’t know why you had to drag me here too.” 

Marianne’s eyes widened. It was Roland!


End file.
